Purse



G. B. HIGGINS Sept. 11, 1951 PURSE Filed NOV. 18, 1948 INVENTOR.

Gm z/erfi Patented Sept. 11, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PURSE Grover B. Higgins, Chicago, Ill.

Application November 18, 1948, Serial No. 60,749

3 Claims.

My invention relates to purses adapted to be clipped, in hidden position, to personal undergarments. Its object is to provide a purse which is of simple and inexpensive construction and which will at all times lie flat, so as not to discommode the wearer and not reveal its presence to others.

With that end in view, I provide a simple envelope, of leather or other suitable material, and a spring wire structure performing the dual function of spreading the envelope and acting as a clip.

In the accompanying drawing,

Figure 1 is a front elevational view showing the flap in closed position and the wire structure in dotted lines;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view, taken on the plane of the line 2--2 of Figure 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows, showing the flap in open position;

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on the plane of the line 3 3 of Figure 2, looking in direction of the arrows; and

Figure 4 shows the wire structure.

The purse comprises firstly the envelope 5, formed of a strip of leather or other suitable material, turned back upon itself, stitched at the sides as at 6, and provided with the flap I. Ordinary cooperating clasp members 8, 9, are provided for holding the flap closed.

The wire structure, shown unsprung in Figure 4, is formed of a single length of spring wire. It is of a double-U formation, comprising the outer members I0, I0, and the inner members II, II. The latter are extended and bent downwardly to form the clip I2. The inner members II, H, are bowed at I3, I 3, for direct clamping cooperation with the clip I2.

The back of the envelope is provided with the slit I4, so that, when the wire structure is inserted in the envelope, the clip I2 may be passed through said slit, out of the envelope, there to act as a clip with spring pressure against the 2 back thereof. As before indicated, that pressure acts against the bowed portions I3, I3, of the inner members I I, II.

The outer members ID, ID of the wire structure, in normal unsprung position out of the envelope, flare upwardly relatively to each other, as shown in Figure 4, to a width greater than the width of the envelope, so that, when the structure is inserted in the envelope, the tendency of the structure to spread is effective to keep the envelope flat, as above pointed out.

I claim:

1. An article of the :class described, comprising a flexible envelope having a rear wall, a front wall, and side edges and having a slit in its rear wall, and an inherently flexible structure disposed in said envelope and engaging the side edges thereof to function as a spreader to flatten the same, a portion of said structure extending through the slit in the rear wall and defining an attaching clip for the envelope.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein the flexible structure consists of a single length of spring wire.

3. The combination of claim 1, wherein the flexible structure consists of a single length of spring wire formed to provide a double-U, the adjacent members of which are extended and bent downwardly to form a clip.

GROVER B. HIGGINS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 398,757 Sweetland Feb. 26, 1889 714,388 Mussinan Nov. 25, 1902 1,281,299 Crosson Oct. 15, 1918 1,618,573 Cole Feb. 22, 1927 2,262,340 Shalko Nov. 11, 1941 

